Alcott House Ham, Surrey from around 1838-1842

Alcott House in

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...

, Surrey (now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames), was the home of a

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

spiritual community and progressive school which lasted from 1838 to 1848. Supporters of Alcott House, or the Concordium, were a key group involved in the formation of the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...

in 1847.

History and ideology

The prime mover behind the community was "sacred socialist" and mystic James Pierrepont Greaves, who was influenced by American transcendentalist

Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and a ...

, and Swiss educational reformer

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (, ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking ...

. Together with his followers, who included Charles Lane – and with the help of wealthy sponsors, Sophia and Georgiana Chichester – he founded Alcott House on Ham Common in Surrey in 1838. The Ham Common Concordium, as it came to be known, consisted of a working mixed

cooperative community A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

and a progressive school for children. The headmaster of Alcott House was Henry Gardiner Wright. The community was dedicated to a regime of spiritual development and purification – in the words of Greaves, aiming to produce the "''most loveful, intelligent and efficient conditions for divine progress in humanity''". To this end the members submitted to an austere regime of early rising, strict vegetarianism (usually raw food), no stimulants, celibacy, and simple living, and experimented with various practices such as

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...

mesmerism Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all liv ...

and phrenology. The men grew their hair and beards long and wore loose-fitting clothes, while the women defied convention by not wearing the traditional, restrictive corset. The community at Alcott House promoted a strict vegan diet, all meals were served cold apart from hot potatoes.Latham, J. E. M. (1999). ''Search for a New Eden: James Pierrepont Greaves (1777-1842), the Sacred Socialist and His Followers''. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 171-172. Alcott House rejected all animal source foods including meat, butter, cheese, eggs and all stimulants such as chocolate, coffee, tea as well as mustard, salt, vinegar and spices. Alcott House school was open to children from both inside and outside the community – the latter usually from radical parents who sympathised with its progressive educational stance. The curriculum emphasised moral education and the development of the child's innate spiritual gifts, teaching practical skills such as gardening and cookery as well as book learning. Punishment was frowned upon and education aimed to produce "''integral men and women''", able to live in a truly cooperative society and not simply playing traditional roles. In 1848, the community came to an end and the house was purchased by John Minter Morgan to provide an orphanage, though still run along vegetarian lines. Ham Common, South Lodge

In 1856 the foundation stone was laid of a new building on the site, South Lodge, which exists to this day. South Lodge has been converted to flats and the grounds have been developed as Bishops Close.

British and Foreign Society for the Promotion of Humanity and Abstinence from Animal Food

The British and Foreign Society for the Promotion of Humanity and Abstinence from Animal Food was formed at Alcott House by a group of vegetarians in 1843."Vegetarian Societies in the United Kingdom"
ivu.org. Retrieved 16 October 2022. Unlike other organizations during this time, the Society had an open membership for women and let them hold office. The Society has been described as a forerunner to the Vegetarian Society.Emel, Jody; Neo, Harvey. (2015). ''Political Ecologies of Meat''. Taylor & Francis. p. 237. Its President was Sophia Chichester.

References

Sources

*
The New Age, and Concordium Gazette
' (pub. W. Strange, 1845), the journal of the Ham Common Concordium

History and ideology

British and Foreign Society for the Promotion of Humanity and Abstinence from Animal Food

See also

References

Sources

Further reading